Last season Mathis Olimb was the Champions Hockey League MVP with Frolunda Gothenburg. Next season, younger brother Ken Andre Olimb will play in the competition with Dusseldorfer EG. Right now, however, they're both trying to help Norway get into the World Championship quarter-finals.

by Derek O'Brien

OSTRAVA – They say it takes four wins out of seven games to make the World Championship quarter-finals, and Norway put themselves behind the eight-ball by losing their first three games. Of course, those games were against Group B's top-three-ranked teams – Russia, the USA and Finland – but still, the Norwegians were out-scored in those games 12–3, not exactly looking like they deserved spot number four. 

Starting with a huge comeback win against Slovakia in game number four, they've battled back to win the next two games, however, to put themselves in a position where a spot in the next round seems within reach.
 
“We're feeling pretty good right now, it was a tough battle all game,” Norwegian forward Ken Andre Olimb said after the team's 3–1 win over Slovenia in the team's fifth game, which gives the team six points. “It's true, we played the hardest teams at the start, so no one was expecting us to win. Now we're playing against the teams that we're expected to beat.”

Olimb and his older brother Mathis are two of the team's top six forwards, each playing on different lines and usually on different power-play units.

“We change (the power play units) every game,” the younger Olimb said. In the Slovenian game, he assisted on Anders Bastiansen's game-winner on the power play early in the second period. It was his second point of the tournament. 

“I'd been struggling for a couple of games so it was nice to contribute.”

Mathis Olimb has been more productive, the team scoring leader with six points – all assists. That surely comes as no surprise to those who followed the Champions Hockey League this past season, where Olimb led the competition in assists (18) and points (26) and earned the Nordic Bet CHL MVP Trophy. 

“For myself, I think I'm doing alright,” Mathis said after a long season that's not quite done. “We're a little tired now and then when we play a lot of games, but I think we've got a good team that's got a lot of good players, not just relying on one or two.”

He also had 39 assists in 51 Swedish Hockey League games for Frolunda Gothenburg – with seven goals he finished with 46 points. Ken Andre followed his progress closely.

“I follow him every game to see how he's doing and we talk to each other quite often during the season,” the younger brother explained. “We have a close bond.” 

“Definitely I've come here with confidence,” the elder Olimb explained on the heels of the Slovenian win. While Ken Andre assisted on the game-winner, Mathis assisted on Norway's other two goals. 

That kind of productivity has caught the attention of Jokerit Helsinki, for whom Mathis has signed to play next season. After getting voted the best player in Europe's top club-hockey competition, he seems ready for the challenge.

“I'm looking forward to that,” Mathis said. “It's going to be good opportunity for me to play at that level. It's a step up for me and I know there are a lot of good players, so I need to train hard this summer to be ready.”

But while Mathis might be better known, Ken Andre has proven himself to be quite adept at racking up points too. He scored at better than a point per game in the DEL for Dusselforfer EG, with 13 goals and 39 assists for 52 points in 51 regular-season games. He then added eight points (2 + 6) in 12 playoff games.

“It was pretty good this year. We made it to the semi-finals, so we did pretty well,” he explained. Still, Ken Andre doesn't see himself quite on his older brother's level.  

“He's such a good playmaker,” Ken Andre raved. “He's a little bit better [than me] at everything.”

At 26 years of age, Ken Andre is three years younger than Mathis. Mathis also has a very slight height advantage (179 – 178 cm) and is a bit heavier (83 – 80 kg).

Due to Dusseldorf's finish in the top German league, and the fact that Ken Andre has another year remaining on his contract there, he will now get a chance to perform on the stage that Mathis excelled last season – the Champions Hockey League. First, however, the brothers and the rest of their Norwegian team are focused on the task at hand – the World Championship. 

“We've gotta win out last two games to get to the quarter-finals,” Mathis spelled out. “First of all we've gotta win [Saturday against Denmark], then we'll see how it goes.”

“As long as we've got a chance to make it, we're going to keep fighting for it,” Ken Andre confidently echoed. “We have two more games and we have to win them.”